Lost Legends - Chapter 2 - Truth (part 1)
#3 of Lost Legends
Kiba woke to the sharp clap of thunder in an unfamiliar place. When he opened his eyes he saw waving light of a fire place on the ceiling above him. He heard the rain beating on the wooden roof of the cabin he was in. Kiba was confused, but also relieved that he was not outside in that rain. Just as he tried to sit up a hand came from over him and gently pushed him back down.
"Don't, please." The gentle voice of a woman explained to him. Kiba muttered a few words, but pain made it difficult to talk. "How- Where am-" The woman interrupted him and began explaining to him,
"You are safe. You are in my home, my son; he heard Phoro's dyeing roars. He found you. You lost a lot of blood. I did not think you would make it to be honest but I had to try to help." She sat down next to him and gently checked his wounds as she continued. "It must have been a terrible battle too. No one has ever lived after facing that beast. And, well- Oh, let me introduce myself. My name is Mirna, I live here with my son; we are here by ourselves now since Phoro took my husband a year ago."
Kiba laid there processing the information, barely holding on to his conciseness. "Also, you must be very hungry. You have been unconscious for almost two days. I have some broth here for you so you can get some of your energy back." Kiba felt numb and was oblivious to his hunger until she mentioned food. After the words were spoken, consciousness burst in as he was energized by the thought of food. Kiba's new expression brought a smile to Mirna as she helped him sit up to drink some broth. "But first I need you to take some medicine, it will make you heal faster and feel better." Kiba's sudden change in expression with her mention of medicine made her laugh.
***
Two young women were exploring the forest when it began to rain. One was very frustrated with the change in the weather while the other was intently waking through the forest as if looking for something. Both wore white hooded cloaks, the bottoms were getting dirty with the rain and mud from the earth. The cloaks hid their pointed ears and beautiful form, as well as their weapons that they carried while they explored these faraway places. They were far from protection and home. Elves rarely left their home, but these two were rebellious and curios of the world outside theirs.
"It's raining too hard, we should go back now." The first one exclaimed while inspecting the cloak, not admiring its condition. "They are going to find out we left again, I don't want your father to yell at me again."
"Stop whining, were getting close I can smell it." The second one continued moving forward, scanning the forest floor.
"Smell it? Wait, that smell is blood! No I'm leaving now. You are going to get us into trouble again!" She pulled out a small flat smooth stone with some symbols etched into the surface. They walked into a clearing where they both stopped. There in the clearing was the remains of the very large black feline beast, Phoro. Both approached and observed the beast.
"Look, someone killed that beast that we heard about." The second was content with her findings. The blood was being washed away with the rain. The first elf became interested and began inspecting the surroundings. She found something a few paces away and picked it up.
"Come take a look at this." She held a charm at the end of a ripped leather cord. The charm was made of metal and had two crescent moons engraved into the surface. The cord was stained with blood. The ground below, now mud, had a slight red stain from the blood of the owner of that cord. The second elf took the cord and looked around.
"This is quite interesting, I would like to meet the one who defeated this beast, but from the looks of it, he probably did not survive his wounds." She observed the surroundings and looked in the direction the non survivor might have been taken.
"How can you tell?" The first elf looked inquisitively, impressed at her conclusion.
"The person laid here unconscious. There was a lot of blood here before the rain. From the blood stain, he probably lost too much to walk off on his own, so he was carried off in that direction. The branches and foliage is broken and the earth is sunk down in the trail, suggesting that it was one person with the weight of two." She pointed off into the forest in the direction that he was taken. "Looks like it was a difficult fight too," She walked over to the trees in the direction the fight began. "Look over there. A few of those trees are broken, down. Looks like the cat here just knocked them over. That is a lot of power to fight against."
The first elf observed the damage to the forest from the fight and nodded in agreement to the other's remarks. "That may be true, but I think the rain is getting worse and we need to be going."
"Yes, your right. I guess it is about time we go back. First let me bury the marks so we can continue here when the weather is more favorable." She took two flat stones, both with markings on the surface. She buried them lightly in the mud separated by a half a meter. She then pulled out a third stone. The first elf followed and took her flat stone out as well. Both held their small stone with both hands, concentrated for a moment to clear their minds, and whispered something. The symbols on the stones glowed for a short instant; the light came out of the symbols and consumed their bodies for another. The light illuminated the forest around them, and then both vanished with the light. The stones they held turned to dust at the conclusion of the spell.
***
Kiba woke to an empty room. He did not remember falling asleep after drinking the medicine and broth. The room was chilly despite the large fire in the fireplace. Kiba sat up, surprised that the felt no pain. He looked around and saw no one. He felt an eerie presence in the room, though he could not see any people. Until in the corner he spotted him again. He recognized this feeling and instantly knew he was dreaming. The large wolf from his dreams sat in the corner of the room, slightly hidden in the shadows. Kiba sat up, legs crossed, and faced the creature.
"Wolf, may I ask you a question?" Kiba asked looking at the wolf, observing the markings on his chest. It was two crescent moons, one large behind a smaller one, facing opposite directions. The wolf's eyes glowed with the reflection of the nearby flame. He did not respond to Kiba's request, he remained silent and stared into Kiba's eyes.
"You, you said you were lost." Kiba began. In his mind he was exploring the possibilities and contemplating the meaning of this encounter. "You are lost within me, and you wish to be free. Could it be that you are me?" Kiba asked the wolf, hoping for a response, but none came, so he continued. Kiba recalled the teachings of his grandfather, recalling the stories he heard of generations past. The knowledge and power they lost that was now wrapped in myth. There must be some truth to the legends, Kiba thought. "You are the truth that we all lost, right? Our true selves, or in this case, you are the true me, the source-" The wolf's tail began sliding from side to side, and a smile was almost visible in the wolf's face. The conclusions Kiba was reaching excited him, "-the source of my being?" He knew he found something that had been lost to many generations of his kind. He paused for a moment to reform his thoughts and finally asked, "How can I learn to understand you better in order to understand myself?" The wolf stopped his movement, and then he responded with words this time.
"Simple, you only need to see the word through my eyes."
Those words echoed through Kiba's mind as he heard them. The shadow around the wolf then grew to consume the room and the world around him as the dream was ending. Kiba woke up, now feeling the pain of his wounds, but the pain was dull and not as bad as before. The words he heard continued repeating in his mind as he laid there looking at the ceiling. He contemplated the meaning of those words, pondering how he would go fourth and accomplish this.